


Fires Of Gallifrey

by caz251



Series: Phoenix!Ianto [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 19:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caz251/pseuds/caz251
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto Jones’ search for answers isn’t going well, he knows what he is, now he needs to know how that is possible and who his father is. His search gets interesting with the appearance of a message thrown from the rift, a look through his mother’s belongings, and a visit from the Doctor, who believes that Gallifrey is the answer to everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Torchwood or Doctor Who.
> 
> Spoilers for the Doctor Who Series 4 Episodes 12 & 13 and Series 6 Episode 4. General character spoilers for Torchwood: Owen never died in Reset and he and Tosh were both saved by Ianto during Exit Wounds.

Ianto stared at his monitor, hoping that the mess on the screen would clarify itself for him. He was trying to make sense of his own existence and so far it was proving rather problematic. All the research he had done over the years had been geared towards finding out what he was. Now though he knew that, what he was trying to understand was how he existed as a half human, half phoenix. Sure he had researched cross-breeds, he had known that he was half human, but he had never known of the possibility of a phoenix and a human mating. To be honest the whole thing creeped him out, this was his parent's and he was trying to figure out how they managed to conceive him. It was dangerous territory for any mind. 

He had been hoping that with figuring out what he was it would suddenly answer all his questions. It was a naïve thought, but it was one that he had been carrying around with him since he was a teenager. He closed the file on his computer, he wasn't going to get anymore work done on it today. Grabbing his mug he made his way to the kitchenette, making a fresh round of coffee for everyone, he delivered them, leaving Jack's till last. Jack was sat with his chair side-on to his desk his feet on the edge, a pen between his teeth reading a file. 

"Busy?" Ianto asked as he entered the office, closing the door behind him. Upon his entry Jack had pulled his feet from his desk immediately, causing Ianto to smile at him. He moved to stand at the edge of the desk and handed Jack his coffee. 

"I'm never too busy for you." Jack replied as he practically started to inhale the coffee in a way that made it hard to tell whether he had meant Ianto or the coffee. 

Ianto leant against Jack's desk watching his lover for a few moments before speaking again, "What are you working on? Can I help?"

"Expense forms." Jack answered glumly, placing his coffee on his desk. "You can help if you want, but I doubt you'll enjoy it. What's happening with your project? You've been rather tense lately."

Ianto just sighed he didn't know how to explain to his lover what he was feeling, especially as he wasn't too sure himself. Instead he settled for a small smile, telling Jack without words that he'd be okay as he explained that his mind was completely frazzled trying to work out the mechanics of his conception. 

"We could do some practical research" Jack suggested, wrapping his arms around Ianto's waist as he stood from his desk. 

Ianto smiled moving further into Jack's embrace, wondering what his lover would suggest. Before he could ask Jack what he had in mind a claxon began to sound throughout the hub and Toshiko looked up from her desk sheepishly, calling out apologies as she grabbed her jacket. She had been working on the rift alerts and had managed to increase the alert volume. Ianto sighed, wondering what it was that had come through the rift this time and how long whatever situation they were about to get themselves embroiled in would take. He held Jack's coat out for him, helping his lover put it on, he did love that coat, before leaving the office. He wasn't sure whether or not he would be going along with them on this mission or staying back to coordinate, but was pleasantly surprised to find that Gwen was going to stay in his stead.

Ianto wasn't going to complain though, he really didn't mind going out into the field with the team, especially since he had begun to understand his powers. His abilities now that he was a bit more confident with them allowed him to protect the team that much more than before, if things became too dangerous he could flame them out of there if they were all close together. The drive out to the site of the rift alert was pleasant; Owen was behaving himself for once and had not mentioned the name feathers, teaboy or any other variation of them in his conversation. Toshiko was working away trying to find out the specifics of whatever had come through the rift and Jack was trying to kill them on the way there with his driving. All in all it was a pretty normal trip out for them. 

The retrieval was not however, arriving in one of Wales many quarrys they began to search for what Toshiko had determined to be something small, probably an object rather than a creature. Gwen was directing them using the more precise programs tuned into the rift monitor and they soon found themselves at the site that the object had arrived in, a large section of quarry that had a burnt area around its boundary. Toshiko did a scan and declared at the same moment as Jack did, "Psychic energy". 

Ianto immediately strengthened his mental defences, knowing that the others would be doing the same. He was suddenly very glad that Gwen had decided to stay at the hub, as while Tosh and Owen had basic instruction on protecting their minds, Gwen had no such lessons. He really needed to bring that up with Jack, he'd offer to teach Gwen and give Owen and Tosh a few refresher lessons as Jack had never managed to teach any of them. After a quick discussion they decided that they would split into two groups, Jack and Owen and Ianto and Tosh and search the area for whatever it was that had come through the rift. 

The search itself didn't take too long, they knew that whatever had burnt the ground was at the epicentre of the scorched ground. They just had to take extra care and search the path inwards in case it was a creature that had come through the rift and moved from where it arrived. The further they got towards the centre of the charred area the harder it was for Ianto to maintain his mental shields. He checked with each of the others, knowing that his shields were stronger than both Owen and Toshiko's and on par with Jack's. Nobody else seemed to be having a problem though, whatever it was that they were dealing with was attacking his shields, and only his shields.

They all reached the centre of the square at roughly the same, by which point Ianto was trying frantically to reinforce his shielding to no avail. The closer he got to the object, which turned out to be a small red square inside a larger clear square, Ianto was hearing faint whispers and what seemed like warnings in his head. Despite what felt like warnings, his own mental thoughts, and Torchwood protocol, when he reached the object he picked it up. 

As soon as he touched the box it burnt his hand and he heard a scream inside his head, most likely his own as his mental shields cracked and collapsed. Mercifully he passed out as the little psychic box relayed its message into his mind. Once the box had relayed its message it went cold, falling from Ianto's limp hand. Toshiko reached for it using tongs, placing it in a containment box as Owen and Jack rushed to check if Ianto was alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up in one of the Torchwood storage rooms was never pleasant, even if it was one with a bed. Ianto let out a groan as he took in the bright lights of the room that they had converted into a treatment room. Almost immediately he heard the buzzing of one of Owen's scanners doing a full body check of him. Looking up into Owen's eyes Ianto awaited his prognosis, knowing that if there was anything wrong with him that the man would tell him in a straightforward and most likely abrupt way. 

"You'll live" Owen spoke, "at least until Jack kills you. What were you thinking Feathers?"

Ianto sighed, he knew that Jack wouldn't really kill him, but he would definitely be dragging him over some hot coals soon. He thought over Owen's question and realised that he hadn't been thinking; he couldn't have been. Unlike the others Ianto had learned Torchwood Protocal at Torchwood London were things were much more rigid and rule abiding than Jack's Torchwood. Ianto could follow Torchwiood protocol in his sleep, for him to disregard it was unthinkable, but he had. Instead of telling Owen this he just shrugged and shook his head, knowing that the other man would know what he meant. 

Shaking his head was a bad idea, one that he realised immediately as he felt the pain in his head explode. Owen must have noticed his wince as he was being handed painkillers at almost the same time he noticed the pain. Noting that they were the really good pills he swallowed them, washing them down with water Owen gave him. He could feel the pain dimming to something more manageable and was immensely greatful for Owen's penchant for playing about with alien narcotics. 

"Where is everyone?" Ianto asked, wondering why Jack wasn't there ready to yell at him for his stupidity. 

Owen smirked and Ianto knew that the other man could tell what he was thinking. "Conference room. I've to bring you up once I'd made sure you were okay."

Ianto nodded, having expected it to be honest, and stood carefully. He refused Owen's help, and made his way to the conference room where everyone else was waiting. Sitting in his seat he looked around the table, both Toshiko and Gwen's worry could be read plainly on their faces, whilst Jack kept his hidden under his anger. 

"Owen report." Jack barked at him, not even looking at Ianto, focussing solely on the doctor. 

Checking his notes Owen spoke to the group as a whole, "Physically Ianto is fine there is nothing wrong with him. Mentally on the other hand, his shields collapsed Jack, how do you think he is. For now all I can say is he has a killer headache and he won't be able to repair his shields until he has done healing from them collapsing."

When Owen finished Jack looked straight at Toshiko who took over, explaining what she had worked out so far. "I think I know what it is, but until I can run some tests I don't really know anything. The box is like an envelope and the red box inside is the letter, it’s a way of communicating through psychic thoughts, or that is what I presume it to be."

She looked around the room at the others taking in their reactions to what she was saying before speaking again. "What we do know though is that it sort of homed in on Ianto. None of us felt anything from the box at all with the exception of him. I can't explain that though, at least without knowing what Ianto felt at the time. There was also an image on the inner box on one side that I want Gwen to look into; it might help us figure out its origin."

Gwen nodded her head in acceptance of the task before they all turned to Jack to see what he wanted them to do next. They all watched in morbid fascination as he turned to Ianto for the first time since he had entered the room. "What the hell were you thinking?" Jack rounded on Ianto, fire in his eyes betraying the calm voice in which he spoke. He stared at Ianto wondering what he could possibly offer as an excuse for his actions.

"I don't know what I was thinking; I don't even think I was thinking." Ianto spoke up, looking straight at Jack. "I know that I was trying to reinforce my mental shields to keep the voice out, I remember the voice in my head that was coming from the box, it was talking about staying away from somewhere, not looking for them, and about a war. The next thing I really remember is waking up with Owen over me downstairs." 

Ianto looked at the others, gauging their reactions to what he had told them, Owen he knew believed him already, and Toshiko had also known the trouble that he had been having with his shields when they had encountered the box. Gwen looked rather sceptical, probably about the idea of the box speaking in his head; he knew she hadn't had much exposure to any real telepaths or other species that had great control over the mind and its behaviours. Jack's reaction was the one that he was most anxious about however; he didn't want Jack to be angry with him, especially when he wasn't really aware of his actions. If he had done it deliberately then he would know that the other mans anger and actions were justified, but he couldn't even really remember touching the box that well, he just knew that he had.

Jack didn't say anything, but he did nod towards Toshiko who pulled on a pair of gloves before opening the containment box. Using a pair of tongs she removed the box, placing in it on a mat on the table. Ianto had expected to hear the voice again as soon as the box was removed from containment, but he heard no such thing. He looked at each of the others to see if they had heard the voice, but just like in the quarry it was obvious that Jack, Owen and Toshiko's shields had all held. Gwen on the other hand was definitely hearing something, the look on her face one of shock as the voice filled her mind. 

The rest of the team watched in shock as a single tear made its way down Gwen's cheek. While she hadn't reached for the box like Ianto had it had certainly affected her in some way. "So beautiful, so sad." Gwen spoke quietly, but in the silence they all heard her. "Hills of diamonds destroyed, Arcadia fell." 

Shock graced Jack's features as he repeated the word Acardia quietly to himself. "Hills of diamonds" he breathed out, "Gwen are you sure?" Jack asked as Gwen came out of the glazed state she had been in for the last few minutes. 

"Yes, I'm sure. They were beautiful Jack, with the moons shining on them, even during their destruction." Gwen replied, her tone telling that there was no room for debate and that she was right. 

"Arcadian Diamonds" Jack spoke, "the second most expensive in the universe."

"Wasn't that what Hart was after from that bird?" Owen questioned. 

Jack nodded, "He's been looking to get a hold of either an Arcadian diamond or a white point star as soon as we heard about them. Arcadia is in a Time Lock so an Arcadian diamond is rare and worth more than you could imagine."

"But they were destroyed, a Time Lock wouldn't matter, whatever that is." Gwen stated. 

"A time lock is when something, either a planet or an event or such has been locked in time. It means that you cannot travel to any time during the event or to the planet at all." Jack explained before continuing, "I can tell you though that whatever this box is it came out of the Last Great Time War."


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto sat in the chair opposite Jack's desk as he watched the man pace the room. Toshiko was working on the box, Gwen was studying whatever image was on the box and Owen was going over the medical scans he had done. He was sure that Jack was a bit calmer towards him for his actions now that he knew that he hadn't intended to do them. He could almost feel the worry that was now flowing from his lover instead. 

"This can't be good, there can be nothing good that came out of the Time Lock on the Time War, Davros was proof of that." Jack muttered as he paced. "How did the box even get here? Caan pulled Davros out of the Time Lock and lost his mind. This shouldn't be possible. That's it, I'll call the Doctor, he might know something."

Ianto sighed, knowing that Jack was not going to let this go, and that there would be a Time Lord on their doorstep before they knew it. "Jack, we will figure this out. I'm going to go help Tosh, call Martha she can contact the Doctor for you." Ianto spoke as he started to make his way towards the office door only to be pulled into Jack's arms. 

"No!" Jack spoke forcefully, "I don't want you near that thing until we know why it affected you like it did and that it won't do it again."

Ianto groaned, he really had been hoping to avoid Jack in protective mode, the other man turned into a mother hen. It had seemed that the closer they got and the more serious their relationship became the more protective Jack became in regards to him. It rather reminded Ianto of the behaviour of a wolf in relation to its mate and had wondered if it was maybe some biological imperitive bred into future generetaions. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch of imagination especially with all the interspecies mingling in the future. 

Knowing that Jack wouldn't relent he voiced his other want. "Can I at least have a picture of the image to look at then? If the box called to me, maybe it’s because there was some sense of familiarity or something, maybe something I came across in London. I may recognise whatever it is."

Jack looked as though he was considering it and was about to reply when the door opened and Owen entered the room. "Come on Teaboy, I've got a few more tests I need to do."

At that Jack whipped his head towards their Doctor, glaring at him. "I thought you said you'd done your tests, that Ianto was fine. What did you find that makes you want to do more tests?"

Owen not one to like admitting his mistakes spoke quickly to get it over with. "Nothing, teaboy is fine. I forgot though to check and make sure that the same can be said of Feathers."

Ianto having realised the same nodded before turning to Jack, "It's fine. Make your phone call; I'll be downstairs with Owen. I'll even stay away from Tosh's desk, promise." 

It was obvious to both Ianto and Owen that Jack was conflicted, and that he wanted to follow them, but he in the end just nodded and went to sit at his desk, picking up the phone and began to dial. Taking his actions as permission the two men left the office and made their way back down to the room Ianto had awoke in earlier. Owen gestured for him to sit on the bed before telling him to change shape. It was something that he had been practising quite often, the majority of the time under Owen's supervision. The other man normally took readings of him both as he changed and once he was in his phoenix form, mainly so that he could form baseline readings for him to work with if Ianto was ever hurt.

As usual Owen's scanner was ever present as he changed, but the expression on Owen's face wasn't, the man looked worried about something. Once Ianto was in full phoenix form however the worry seemed to disappear, and he became more relaxed as he carried out the variety of different tests that he needed to do. The worry reappeared however as Ianto was changing back into his human form, something that was justified as a soon as he had shed his feathers so to speak he felt a burning in his hand and the level of pain he was feeling skyrocketed.

Ianto wasn't sure, but he must have screamed or something, because a few minutes after he had transformed Jack had come rushing into the room with Gwen and Toshiko following behind him. Owen was taking readings of him and began to bark orders at Gwen to get him cold water and cloths ready and Toshiko to grab him something from his kit. Jack just ignored Owen completely and made his way straight to Ianto checking him over himself before finding the root of the problem, the hand that had touched the box. His hand was red and angry, like it had only just been burnt, rather than the few hours before. It made him wonder why he hadn't felt the pain before when he had first woken up, only the headache, but he realised that when he had woken earlier there had been nothing wrong with his hand at all, something that confused him. 

Owen was quick in treating him as much as he could, using the cold cloths to take some of the heat out of his hand before using a piece of alien technology that he had Toshiko collect for him to remove the pain and heal the burn. They tried not to use the device if possible leaving it only for the most serious of injuries, something that unnerved Ianto that they had used it on him. He knew that there had been a lot of pain, but his mind hadn't processed how serious the burn must have been.

As he felt the pain recede Ianto let out a sigh of relief, he knew that there was no way that he would have been able to cope with that for much longer, especially as he still had a while to go before he could take any more painkillers, especially because of the strength of the alien medication Owen had him on. He wasn't about o become addicted to painkillers, or to overdose himself on them. He knew that he had to be careful with medication; he always had been, mainly because he didn't know if there was anything that would affect him unusually due to his hybrid nature. He had found that aspirin or any other over the counter medication had never worked for him, that he was almost immune to them, and he had always had to have stronger prescribed medication for his pain.

Once the cold cloths had been removed Owen immediately set to test his hand to make sure that everything was in proper working order. He flexed his fingers in many different ways and opened and closed his hand in a fist before Owen was satisfied with his muscle movement. He then turned his hand over so that he could get a good look at his palm where the pain and the burn seemed to have been from his contact with the box. Whatever he was expecting from Owen it wasn't the sucked in breath, and he certainly wasn't expecting to see an image burnt into his palm that the device had been unable to heal. There on the palm of his hand was a set of wings as majestic as his own with what looked like a crown between them.


	4. Chapter 4

The universe was a huge and fabulous space, and what better playground for a Time Lord that had never really grown up, but the whole of existence. He could choose wherever he wanted to go, with a few exceptions, and could enjoy himself. He could see the whole of history happen, watch as civilisations rose and fell, and he could do it alone or with a friend. He had had many friends over the centuries, but currently he was alone, or rather, he had no other companions with him other than his dear friend the TARDIS. They were travelling alone for a while, what had happened to Donna was still too current, too fresh in his mind for him to take anyone else with him for a bit. After he had taken her home and explained everything to her family he had taken off, just him and the TARDIS, hoping that he would be able to take some time and come to terms with everything that had happened recently. They had travelled to many different places, from suns to moons, to small asteroids still waiting to be named, but now he was in Cardiff, and he had no idea why. He had been on his way to Barcelona in the hopes of remembering happier times and to get himself a pet, he always had wanted a dog with no nose, when he'd stepped outside of the TARDIS however he was in Cardiff.

The Doctor was about to go back into the TARDIS and leave, he didn't want to bump into Jack and explain what had happened with Donna, when his phone rang, or rather Martha's phone rang. He considered not answering, but he knew that Martha wouldn't call him if she didn't need to so he answered the phone, whilst starting to walk towards a small chip shop he remembered from previous visits to the city. He didn't know what it was Martha wanted of him, but he hoped that the end of the world wasn't upon them, he was pretty sure that he didn't have the energy to deal with that today, all he wanted to do today was buy a puppy. 

"Hello Martha" he spoke into the phone, hoping that she was just checking up on him, she had done it a few times in the past. "How are you? How's the family?" 

He smiled as she talked to him, excusing himself for a couple of minutes so he could place his order for chips, then returning to the conversation. Martha and everyone he had asked about seemed alright, and Martha didn't sound as though she was in any danger. He also hadn't seen any mass panic in the streets as he had walked to the chip shop, so hopefully it really was a social call. Determined to find out though and not waste too much time stringing out his nervousness he just asked. 

"So, what can I do for you Miss Martha Jones?" He hoped that he didn't sound fatigued as he spoke, but he was rather tired of the constant chase, the mad dashing around to save the world. In a way he wanted a break, a short holiday in which he could enjoy himself and maybe eat more chips. 

"It's Jack." He heard Martha say, "He asked me to call. He says that something came through the rift he needs you to look at. I've to tell you to get there as soon as possible with no side trips, he said it was important. Something to do with the Time War and Arcadia I think."

Instantly alert the Doctor took his chips from the woman at the counter and barked down the phone at Martha, "What date?" 

Martha knowing what he meant, they were both experienced with Time Travel and knew that there was no guarantee that Martha had called him in the same century she told him the date, making him pause as he compared it with the date on a nearby newspaper. 

"What time are you calling me at?" He asked, confusing the other woman a bit, it was obvious in her tone when she replied telling him that it was about three in the afternoon. He sighed, now he knew why he was in Cardiff rather than Barcelona, that meddling time machine had brought him to Cardiff, she had obviously known that something was going on and decided that he should be there when Martha called. He smiled at the thought, although his TARDIS didn't always take him where he wanted to go, she certainly took him to places he needed to be, even if he himself didn't know that at the time. 

"Alright Martha. There’s no need to phone Jack back, I’ll go there now, it should only be a couple of minutes walk from here." 

"You are in Cardiff already." Martha asked, disbelief in her voice. "What were you doing there?" 

He smiled at her tone, she really had been one of his few companions that had always been checking up on him, her and Donna both. He wasn't going to tell her the truth though, his companions always thought his timing and driving was bad. He wasn't about to admit that he had been hijacked by his own TARDIS, so he simply settled for, "Chips. The best chips this side of the universe." 

He hang up the phone, the sound of Martha's laughter ringing in his ears as he made his way back towards the TARDIS and the entrance to Torchwood. He stood on the correct paving slab, Jack having told him which one it was when warning him not to park on their exit. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and used it to make the lift descend, having worked out how it worked from Jack's description.

The area that appeared in was empty by the looks of it, no human beings around at all. He wondered if maybe they were out, but it hadn't been long since Jack had called Martha, because she would have phoned him straight away, so they were probably there somewhere. Taking a look around he decided that he definitely wanted to explore, especially the room that looked to be full of plants, he wondered what Jack and his team were growing. Taking out his sonic screwdriver he scanned for life signs, getting a reading back of seven; one alien, four human, one prehistoric, and what appeared to be a half-human.

The prehistoric life sign he guessed was the pterodactyl that Jack had bragged about keeping as a pet, and the alien was most likely the weevil he had heard the other man talking to Martha about the last time they were all together. The other life signs must be Jack and his team, so he followed his screwdriver in their direction, his mind wondering about the half-human, about what the other half of their ancestry was, whether they were part of Jack's team, or if they were what had come through the rift. The Doctor really didn't know what would happen if it was someone else who had survived the time war, would they be as mad as Dalek Caan had been, or as scarred as he was. He supposed that really he would need to meet them to find out, having nothing else to do he knocked on the closed door that he came across before pushing it open. His screwdriver had told him that everyone with human DNA was congregated in that one room, so he had to be in there as well to find out what was going on. He didn't expect to be on the receiving end of five glares and to be staring down the barrel of four guns.

"Really Jack?" The Doctor huffed, "Is this how you treat everyone you ask to see you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Upon realising who it was that was in the hub with them Jack quickly signalled his team to put the guns away, which they did immediately, although he noticed that they all moved closer to Ianto as if to protect him from the intruder, even though they too realised who it was. He made his way to the Doctor quickly pulling him into a hug, catching the smell of chips and letting out a small smirk. "I told Martha to tell you no side trips and you still stop off for chips. Doc you never change do you?" 

The Doctor just looked at him as if to say, 'you expect me to', before speaking, "I didn't stop off for chips I was getting chips before Martha told me you wanted to see me. I wasn't just going to leave them, it's my lunch." 

Jack sighed, knowing that he really couldn't argue with that, especially as he knew that he, Martha and Rose had all complained at times about the Doctor skipping meals. "Alright, fair enough." 

"So, what have you got for me?" The Doctor asked, his expression hard to read, but Jack would place it as somewhere between a mix of confused and concerned. 

"A box." Jack spoke softly, "A physic box." He looked at Ianto as he spoke. "Right, back to the conference room guys. Toshiko I want that box back up there, Gwen as much as you've figured out. Owen I want Ianto triple checked then you both upstairs." 

He then left the room with the Doctor following him until they reached the large conference room. Jack ushered the Doctor into a seat before going to a small fridge almost hidden in a corner and pulled out six bottles of water, placing one at each seat. The others all fell into the room at their own pace, taking their seats and nodding in Jack's direction in thanks for the water.

Once they were all seated and the Doctor almost finished his chips Jack began to speak. "It came through the rift this morning, burning out a whole patch of ground in a concentric square around it with physic energy. It also has a drawing in effect; or rather it did on Ianto, who aside from me has the best mental shields of us all. Whatever or whoever that was cut right through them Doc, and pulled him towards the box until he touched it and heard its message. It knocked him out and has left a burn mark on his hand. When we got back here Gwen heard it as well, but she also saw images as well, she saw Arcadia Doctor, saw all the beauty and then the destruction as it was destroyed. Whatever that box was it came straight out of the Time Lock on the Time War. What I need to know is why it singled Ianto and Gwen out, will this affect either of them in any way and how the hell it got from behind a time lock, and more to the point is there anything else from the time war going to wash up on my doorstep."

The Doctor stared in shock at the speech, wondering who had managed to send out a psychic message from the fall of Arcadia because there was no doubt in his mind that that was what type of box they were talking about. He also wondered why it had affected two of the members of Jack's team and not the others. He turned to Jack once more after glancing round the room and at the box on the table. "I'll need to see it, Jack. If I know who it was I may be able to work out any affects that will occur. It should have just been a message a distress signal of sorts if I'm right. They shouldn't have been able to see pictures or to burn anything or anyone.”

Jack nodded to Toshiko who once more removed the box using gloves and tongs and placed it on the mat so that the Doctor could look at it and identify it. She then sat back with the others to watch the Time Lords reaction to the box. 

"The Fires." he breathed out, a look of complete shock on his face, "Aeske." The Doctor turned to look at Ianto, studying him with his eyes and then his screwdriver, trying to find out why the box had singled him out before coming to rest on the man's hand and the mark of Aeske burnt into his palm. "Jack, I don't know what is going on here but Ianto has some major part in this, I just don't know how."

Jack really didn't like where this was going, something was going to happen to Ianto or he was wrapped up with something to do with the Time War and the Doctor had no clue how or why. "Who's Aeske, Doctor?” he asked, hoping that they could get some more information from the man about what the situation was. He was sure that the Doctor knew something, that he just didn't know what it meant so he was holding back. 

"Aeske was a Gallifreyan, a good friend, he ruled Arcadia." The Doctor spoke. “He was the ruling Fire of Gallifrey, and therefore presided over the area of Arcadia as allowed by the Council.”

Jack stared at the Doctor trying to figure out what he was talking about. "So Arcadia was part of Gallifrey; not completely separate, rather like a county or something." The Doctor nodded at his query and Jack carried on, "But Aeske wasn't a time lord he was a Fire? I've never heard of them before, only Gallifreyans and Time Lords."

"Yes." The doctor agreed. "I am a Gallifreyan even though I'm a Time Lord, just like a Fire was still a Gallifreyan. I lied to you and Martha before, or rather omitted certain information when we were discussing the untempered schism. There were four groups not three; those who were inspired, those who went mad, and those who ran, they were all Time Lords. There was one other group though; those who burnt from the inside out the moment they looked into the vortex; they were the Fires. They were rather like Time Lords in a way, but only one heart like Gallifreyans unlike the Time Lords who possess two. They have no regenerations, but have two forms."

Jack stared at the Doctor for a moment before sharing a quick look with Ianto who appeared rather shaken by the Doctor's information. It was clear in Jack's mind that he and Ianto were both thinking along the same lines; was it possible that Ianto was part Fire. Knowing that all they could do was ask Jack spoke up again, knowing that Ianto didn't want to draw too much attention himself. "Doctor, you said two forms, what were they?"

"They were what you humans would probably call a humanoid form and an avain form." The Doctor replied. 

"An avain form, like a phoenix." Gwen spoke, staring at the Doctor waiting for him to answer. 

"Exactly, Miss Cooper, just like a phoenix." The Doctor replied. 

The reaction of the others was immediate with their gaze swinging to Ianto almost as soon as the words left the Doctor's mouth. Owen however was the one to vocalise what they were all thinking. "Bloody Hell. Feathers is really part alien."

Jack chuckled at that, but knew where Owen was coming from. Ianto himself had felt no link to anywhere but Earth and with the ancient myths of firebirds on Earth they had all just assumed that Ianto was completely native to Earth. Noting Ianto's expression it was clear that he was just as stunned as the rest of them. 

A startled cry of "What!" came from the Doctor as he stared at Ianto, once more producing his sonic screwdriver and scanning Ianto. "You can't be!" The Doctor muttered to himself, "It’s impossible. Unless," he paused again this time looking at Gwen, "spatial genetic multiplicity, of course. What do you know about your family history, the both of you."


	6. Chapter 6

Gwen listened as Ianto explained what he knew of his family history to the Doctor, telling him about his belief that he and Rhiannon had different fathers. As she listened to him speak she wondered what the Doctor wanted to learn from their family histories, and why he wanted to hear hers as well as Ianto's, she was 100 percent human. When Ianto finished the Doctor turned to her expectantly, waiting for her to tell her story. 

Gwen explained what she knew of her family, but she had to admit that she didn't know that much about her history. Gwen had always been routed in the present and forwardlooking to the future. The past had never really held much of an appeal to her. 

"The woman you are named after, can you tell me anything about her?" The Doctor prompted. 

Gwen stared at the alien oddly for a moment, how did he know she had been named after a member of her family. "Gwenyth, she was my father's many times great aunt, she worked in a funeral home here in Cardiff and died their in a fire. Apparently I look just like her so I was name after her, like she was named a Gwendolyn, I think, that she looked like."

"Hah, you do know your family history or some of it at least. She was a lovely woman you many times great aunt, caring and kind with a highly developed mind. Something I had thought at the time was due to having grown up almost completely on top of the rift." The Doctor stated, shocking them all that he seemed to have known Gwen's long dead relation. 

Jack seemed to be shocked for another reason though, "Gwenyth as in Gwenyth? Dickens, Gelth Gwenyth?" At the Doctors nod Jack let out a sigh, "Is it safe for Gwen to be here Doctor, practically on top of the rift?"

Gwen looked between the two men, wondering what they were talking about, and how Jack knew of her Great aunt as well. She was going to ask, but she decided to wait and hear what the Doctor had to say first, she wanted to know if she was safe here after all. Although why she might be in any more danger than they were in normally as a result of what came through the rift she didn't know. 

"Miss Cooper should be fine. Charlie Boy didn't tell anyone what happened, and Rose and I only related the story to you and Mickey. Miss Cooper would have ended up here on the rift anyway, so would Mr Jones, they would have come here whether they worked for Torchwood or not." The Doctor replied, before quickly explaining how he had met Gwenyth and what had happened, the look Gwen had thrown him had promised torture of some sort if he hadn't confessed.

"What do you mean we would have ended up here on the rift anyway?" Gwen asked, looking to Ianto to see if he looked as confused as she felt, to find that he seemed to be utterly vexed by the Doctor's words. "And why did you want our families histories, and for that matter what is spatial genetic multiplicity?"

The Doctor sighed, "The rift, it would have been pulling you in for years, it is a small tear in the fabric of reality that is connected to the time vortex. Neither of you had a chance to look into the untempered schism so you would have been drawn to the next best thing, a rift in time and space." He looked around, seeing the nonplussed looks on the faces around him. "As Gallifreyans we all have that urge at some point, not all satisfy it, in fact only a real small percentage did. The council made sure that only a certain number of people were admitted to the academy every year to keep the number of Time Lords and Fires at a reasonable level."

Gwen didn't know what to think, the day had started off so normally as well, or as normal as ones day could be when you work for Torchwood. Now though, they had an alien in their conference room trying to tell both her and Ianto that they were alien, or at least that's what she thought he was trying to say. She turned to Jack, hoping that he may be able to get a better answer out of the mad alien, or at least be able to translate what he had already said.

"Doc, are you trying to tell me that both Gwen and Ianto are Gallifreyan?" Jack asked simply, hoping to get a simple explanation from the other man for once. 

"Yes," the Doctor stated, "well, no, but yes. Ianto is half-Gallifreyan through his ability to change into a phoenix if that's what your calling him he is definitely a Fire. As for Gwen well, she is completely human, but not. I'm not saying this right, her mind is Gallifreyan, but she's human." 

"Like Donna, human body, Time Lord mind?" Jack asked. 

"No, no, definitely not, that's a metacrisis waiting to happen. Definitely not a Time Lord mind, a Gallifreyan mind, there is a difference. Gwenyth and Gwen and even the Gwendolyn that Gwenyth was named for are all anomalies. Spatial genetic multiplicity Jack, they look the exact same as each other, even though they are years apart in their family trees, that had to come from somewhere. There was probably a Gallifreyan female that looked exactly like your Miss Cooper does who married into the family, and merging with the family line. I doubt any Gallifreyan traits will show up in Gwen's family except in those who look like her exactly, they inherited the Gallifreyan mental traits, but that is all, the rest of her is completely human."

"So what does this mean for them, medically speaking?" Owen asked and Gwen had to smile, she knew that the Doctor despite his gruff exterior at times wouldn't really care that either she nor Ianto were completely human, although she appeared to be more human than anything else, how just her mind can be alien she would never really know. Owen was more concerned about how this would affect his job, and his care of them both, something that no-one outside of the team would probably believe.

"There shouldn't be any real difference in treating Miss Cooper, just be careful with pain medication, as she is completely human in body aspirin shouldn't affect her like the rest of the Gallifreyans or Time Lords, but be careful in case some of the allergy has persisted. As for Mr Jones, if he is injured in either form he must be treated in the one he is injured in; do not allow him to change form until he is completely healed. Aspirin shouldn't affect him at all however, we never worked out how, but the Fires were never affected by it, we did think it might have been something to do with the Fire in their blood. Oh, that's another thing, neither of you become blood donors, I'm not too sure of the effects of Miss Coopers blood if they are anything life or history changing, but we should be on the safe side."

Gwen nodded at that, as much as she cared for other people, giving blood had never been her thing, it was bad enough when Owen came at her with a needle for testing, but to allow someone to stick a needle in her voluntarily. She noticed Ianto nodding as well, and had to wonder what this really meant for them, Ianto was descended from someone who could turn into a bird, and she was descended from someone with extremely good mind apparently, that she had inherited. She supposed the day could have been worse, but then again it wasn't over yet, and she had to explain this to Rhys. He had been saying for years that her mind and what she was thinking was alien to him, but she was pretty sure that this was not what he had meant.


	7. Chapter 7

Ianto had sat quietly for the most part through the Doctor talking, preferring to listen and try to catalogue everything that he was hearing in his brain so that he could make some sense out of it. He did understand everything that the Doctor was saying and a lot of what had been said seemed to fit with both what he knew of the universe, of himself and of Gwen. What he did need to know though was whether or not the man Aeske that the Doctor had spoke of was his father. It seemed to fit to him, he didn't know why, maybe it had something to do with the mark on his hand, or the fact that the message that he had heard from the box was extremely personal, like a worried father trying to protect their son. He had to wonder if the Doctor knew anything, and he was definitely going to ask. He listened as Owen questioned the Doctor about his and Gwen's health and realised that the pain killer theory probably made sense, the chemicals being neutralised easily by something in his blood and making it harder for him to find working painkillers unless they were of an extremely strong nature.

Owen's question made him think though of how this had all started in the first place, of course he wanted to know his past his history, but he needed to know how this would affect his future, which brought everything back to the effect that the box had on him, and on Gwen. As far as he was aware from what the Doctor had said, Gwen should never have seen any images, only heard words of the message, a message that seemed to be more general than the one he had received. 

"Doctor, what does this mean for Gwen and I, what about the box, why did it affect us?" Ianto asked. 

The Doctor smiled a bit, "Pictures and images are not what are usually seen with these boxes, in fact I've never even heard mention of them, but Miss Cooper's Great aunt was very adept when it came to pictures. I'd say for Miss Cooper that it was just her family traits showing through. As for why the box affected you both, it sensed the Gallifreyan in you both, but why it burned you I cannot say. I don't believe that it will have any lasting effect though, Aeske was a kind ruler and never harsh, he would not harm anyone, even someone he had never met. He was one of the few who refused to pick up arms at Arcadia, trying his best to resolve everything without weapons or bloodshed. He was a great ruler and even better person, someone I could only aspire to be like."

The Doctor was quiet for a few moments, but before Ianto could ask anything more of him Toshiko spoke up, "Doctor, what about how the box got here, even with the rift if the fall of Arcadia was in a Time Lock how could it have got washed up here?"

"I have a few theories, although I'll never know for sure, Aeske was one of the last standing at Arcadia, the message would have been sent as the destruction occurred, it may have been able to leave Arcadia before the Time Lock went into effect, after all, I was at Arcadia and I am here. Another theory is the rift itself, we don't have any idea how far this rift spreads; it may have taken the box from Arcadia as soon as it was sent out. It could have been a result of Dalek Caan's actions; he went into the Time War by an emergency temporal shift, what's to say that nothing else latched onto him other than Davros when he left again. My last theory is that of zed neutrino energy, the walls between the universes, the whole of reality, they could have been erased easily, a TARDIS would explode, to that what is a Time Lock really." The Doctor hypothesised, "I doubt that we will ever really know, as there is no real way to test or check, all we can do is be vigilant and watch out for more occurrences or objects from the Time War. If we see other things coming through, then we know there is a problem, as for now I wouldn't worry about it."

Ianto nodded to himself, he was sure that the Doctor would say something like that, sit and wait. It wasn't as if there was anything else that they could do, especially as they were busy enough trying to monitor the rift in Cardiff and trying to have a bit of a life. He supposed now that he knew what he really was all he had to do was figure out who his father was, at least he now knew how he was conceived, he had never thought before of his father having two forms like he did, and he now felt stupid for not considering it, but he had assumed that he looked human as a result of his mother and feathery as a result of his father. To realise that in actuality that his father could have been any male in any of his mother’s photographs rather than a bird waiting out of sight was somewhat anti-climatic. He had assumed that his mother had known about his father's nature, after all how could you not notice if your lover had feathers, but now he was aware that she may have been completely ignorant of any difference that could be passed onto their child.

"Do you have any idea of how, if there is a way to find out who my father is Doctor?" Ianto asked, never having imagined that he would be having this conversation with the Doctor. He had pictured the conversations in the past where he met the Doctor and asked for help to find out what he was, to narrow down his research and tell him what sort of creature he was descended from, but he had never thought he’d be asking for help to find out who he was, not of the Doctor anyway. 

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't know of anything, all Gallifreyan records were destroyed or are locked behind a Time Lock, the Fires were even more secretive with their documents. I can't think of anything on my end of things, your best bet would be to look into what your mother knew, see if there is anything among her possessions that could tell you anything. I will say however that Aeske's mark must have something to do with it, or it would have faded when you were healed." 

Ianto knew that as well, but he had hoped; there was one last thing he needed to ask though, something that he had to check. "Is there any possibility that you can think of that Aeske may be my father?" He had felt a kinship of sorts with the box, and the mark on his hand didn't bother him, like he felt it should be there, that with it there everything was right in the world. 

"I know that he used to travel, he did have his own TARDIS and he frequently took trips off-world, but where he went and what he did I don't know. I suppose that it is possible, but I can't say for sure." The Doctor answered. The man then turned to Jack, "I know you have protocols, or I expect you to, but the box is coming with me. The only safe place for something like that is the TARDIS, the mental pleas or words of a Fire should be safe, but free, they can't be that here." 

Ianto watched as Jack nodded, he hadn't really expected him to disagree; he was pretty sure that despite protocol if the Doctor asked for anything within the base that Jack would give him it, with the exception of the team and maybe Myfanwy.


	8. Epilogue

_A boy, a baby boy, he's finally here. I have been waiting for this moment for the last nine months, the moment when I could hold my son in my arms. I only wish that it was Aeske here with me rather than my husband, Aeske deserved to be here to see his son brought into the world. I suppose that he will meet him on his next visit, but I wish that he had timed it a bit better to be here for his birth. I can't help but wonder who he will take after my little boy, will he be like me or will he have that fiery side to him that will undoubtedly come from his father. I can't wait to find out._

_My little boy needs a name though, and I can't wait for Aeske to be here, my husband longs to here the name of his son, and Rhiannon just wants to hold her baby brother. Ianto, he shall be Ianto. My love Aeske should be happy with the name, and my husband will do anything and agree with anything to keep me happy. He shall be Ianto to honour my heritage and the man who will be his godfather when Aeske finally gets around to telling him of my precious little fire._

Ianto closed his mother's journal and placed it down in his lap, and just stared around is living room, it was true, Aeske was his father. He was tempted to carry on reading the journal to find out what had happened to his mother and father apart from what he already knew. He couldn't though; he needed time to come to terms with what he already knew before digging any deeper into his mother's private thoughts. He felt guilty, he hated it when others read his diary, but here he was doing the same to his mother's. He supposed it was different and he wasn't reading them to be nosy, but rather to understand and to learn, to work out who he was. The one entry he had read so far had told him that he was right in his judgement about who his father was, and that his mother had known about his father's nature. He had gone straight to the date of his birth in the diary in the hopes of learning about himself rather than just taking a walk through the pages of his mother's thoughts, it was less intrusive that way.

Ianto stared at all the things that he had surrounding him on the floor, he had called Rhiannon and asked for the key to the storage facility that their mother's belongings had been placed in when their childhood home was sold. He had then spent the day looking for anything that would tell him about his past, his mother's diaries had been the first thing that he had looked for, e knew that she had kept them and had written in them religiously, he had inherited the trait from her and was always meticulous in his record keeping. He had also found a box that had the same symbol that was on his hand on the top, and he took it, knowing that it had to have something to do with his father, after all, why would something with the mark of the ruling Gallifreyan Fire be amongst his mother's things otherwise. He had taken both the box and the diaries home with him and spread everything out on the floor before picking up the diary to read.

Deciding to leave the diary for now, he did after all know the one thing he was really hoping to find from the diary, the name of his father, he instead looked towards the contents of the box. He let out a gasp as he saw something that could only be an Arcadian Diamond sat innocently amongst what looked like letters and other tokens of affection. Reaching out hesitantly, the last thing he had touched of his father's had burnt him, he picked up the diamond, only to hear the voice of his father in his ear.

 

"If you are hearing this, my little Fire, I am no longer with you and your mother is not around to explain to you what is going on. I am sorry to not be there with you, but if I am not, know that it is not through choice. I live far from where you and your mother stay and getting away from Arcadia where I rule is not easy, not when I have to rule over a race. I know you are probably confused my son, but this is the truth, I am not from Earth, but another planet, one filled with beauty, but with many rules. It is my wish for this diamond to never need to be used as anything but a signifier of who you are, but that is not necessarily all it may be. I have left this so I can explain to you our history, our culture, and our lifestyle to you my son, so that you can know who you are. More importantly though; I leave you this diamond to show those who doubt the truth of your claim to the throne of Arcadia. Rule well, my Ianto."


End file.
